A New Kind of Worship Service

I have written before of my sense that I am somehow called to be an 'Apostle to the Nerds'. I believe Geek Culture and Christian Culture have a lot in common, and bridges can be built that are only tangentially realized. Most of my ministry is using films to illustrate certain Biblical passages. For instance, last night we watched the episode of DOCTOR WHO entitled "Utopia". There is this moment where an old man opens a watch and realizes that he is actually a transfigured Time Lord. The opening of the watch wakes him up to a terrible (for us) and wonderful (for him) truth: he is the Time Lord known as "The Master". We read this in conjunction with Genesis 3, and the eating of the apple. Many of the youth saw a clear connection (which I originally missed, to be honest) between the moment when the watch is opened and the Master remembers his true nature, and the moment when Eve eats the apple and has her 'eyes opened'.

If this moment from Doctor Who popped into these young people's minds whenever they read that passage from now on, I'd consider it a victory. For the moments are clearly parallel. The episode 'reveals' or 'illuminates' the fully weight of the moment in the Bible. The awareness gained is both awesome and terrible. Films and television are a 'language', and just as the Bible must be translated into any language, it behooves us to translate it into these languages as well.

I imagine many ways in which my life may proceed. Perhaps I'll start a more conventional church that has plenty of opportunities to engage in this kind of discussion throughout the week, with people of all ages. Or maybe I'll open a comic book store or comic book art store with worship services for a small group on Sunday morning. I've envisioned entire theaters reserved for a few hundred 'parishoners' who then break into small groups at a local coffee shop, where a discussion and then worship takes place. Movie and communion? It makes sense to me. Christianity can survive in the world, though it may take forms we are not used to. I feel more and more that God is calling me to this kind of life, and this kind of project. My only quandary is maintaining at least the level of income I make now while doing all of this. That is not a selfish goal, it is a practical goal: I have a family, after all.

It is time for something new.